After a day full of haircuts, handbags, and hummus (more on those and the weekend's other activities later), I decided to make a good-faith effort to do SOMETHING dissertation-related for at least an hour this evening.

My most pressing project is revising Chapter One. This requires:

a new introduction

revisions/additions to the first main section

replacing the crappy second section with the much better version that became Article No. 1

a new conclusion

So to review the various pieces I went to my refrigerator's crisper drawer, wherein I store hard copies of all my most important work (hey, you never know when your apartment is going to go up in smoke, and refrigerators don't burn). Usually I just toss stuff in there and I only go back through it when I really need to, so I was expecting to dig a bit in order to get to Ch. 1--but I was not expecting to wade through SEVEN different copies of Ch. 2. (Ch. 2 is also, in only slightly different form, Article No. 2, which goes a short way toward explaining why there are so many different versions floating around).

There were also two copies of Ch. 3, some random legal pads containing miscellaneous notes, and a manila file folder bursting with general-interest articles torn out of magazines and newspapers that I had apparently at some point intended to photocopy. Why was that there? Who knows?

Other things I have in my refrigerator that you may not have in yours:

2 unopened packs of cigarettes left from the carton I bought duty-free in Seoul 1 1/2 years ago (I rarely smoke, but a carton of Dunhills for $13 was too good to pass up)

Tooth-whitening solution and trays

2 bottles of champagne (down from the 4 I got for my 30th birthday)

Nail polish

In my previous apartment, the kitchen of which contained exactly one very narrow drawer, I also kept my silverware tray in my refrigerator--something I considered a very sensible use of space, but which never failed to elicit commentary from guests.

Anyway. I highly recommend the refrigerator as an alternate storage facility. But I also recommend cleaning it out with a little more regularity than I seem to.

7 Comments:

I love it! I used to store my dissertation in my freezer for the same exact reason. I also e-mailed myself copies of all the drafts; saved copies of the drafts on my work computer, my home computer, and my laptop; kept a backup CD in the glove compartment of my car; and made my husband keep a copy at his place of employment.

Of course, I learned this lesson the hard way. When I was writing my master's thesis, we had a fire. Seriously. I'm not kidding and it's not an urban legend. My backup disk MELTED into my computer and everything. (As annoying as that was, I was more upset by the fact that my dog died.) I've been paranoid ever since.

We were cleaning out the fridge one day a month or two ago, and my housemate pulls out a box of baking soda from the back and asks "why's this in here? Does baking soda last longer in the fridge or something?"

Dr. C--so sorry to hear about your loss(es), though it at least confirms the not-craziness of my storage policy. I do try to email myself docs, as you and Ragey do, but I also like to have hard copies.

Ianqui--I'd always heard that it makes the polish last longer and stay smoother. But I just went on Google and Cosmetic Cop disputes this. So, dunno.

I've heard the same thing about nail polish. I've stored some in my fridge a time or two.

I'm an idiot about not backing up, not taking care of my documents, so you're a smartie to have plans such as copies in the fridge, etc. I have a horror story which involves a laptop hard drive dying just as I was finishing the last chapter of my dissertation. !!! Fortunately, all was recovered. I will spare you the details, but it was drama.

Not smart--just (sorta) learned from experience: my previous laptop died right as I was in the middle of studying for my orals, and continued to die periodically thereafter, which always involved my sending the damn thing to the manufacturer and sometimes losing my harddrive in the process.